This application is for partial funding of the 1991 Summer Conference on Smooth Muscle to be held under the auspices of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) from July 14-to July 19, 1991, at Copper Mountain, Colorado. The format for the conference will be that developed and defined by FASEB, which encourages a weeklong series of presentations and discussions. About 150 scientists will be selected from applications on the basis of expertise, interest, contribution, and balance to provide an intellectually stimulating environment. This meeting will focus specifically on areas of notable advancement and new conceptual development in smooth muscle, including membrane ion channels, Ca2+ pumps, regulation of intracellular calcium, cGMP second messenger system, regulation and functions of contractile proteins, and molecular adaptations of contractile protein expression. We will provide a special effort to integrate cell and molecular research with that at the organismic level in these sessions. These combinations are distinct from the first three Smooth Muscle conferences, and from any smooth muscle conference that has occurred to date. The meeting will be particularly useful for interactions of scientists working in rapidly developing areas, and will be specifically designed to provide improved dialogue among those working in highly specialized areas. Suggestions of new experiments and refinement of concepts that are likely to occur will importantly advance current knowledge in many areas of smooth muscle research. Furthermore, discussions are likely to provide an increased fundamental understanding that could lead to the development of therapeutic management of the many diseases due to pathophysiological states of smooth muscle.